About a 2-3 hour drive away from Beijing are the UNESCO villages of Chuandixia and Lingshui. If you have extra time in Beijing a trip to the ancient villages are worth a peek. My friend Elizabeth and I took the trip with a local guide, Cathy, and hired a driver for the day.
Our first stop was Chuandixia. In the summer, the locals drive from Beijing to the village to get away from the chaos of the city. We were the only tourists in the entire town. The snow made it a challenge getting up and down the uneven ancient steps, and I even slipped at one point with my camera falling out of my pocket. I blame it on the nonexistent banana peel underneath the snow. Just sayin'.
When it was time for lunch, Cathy went from restaurant to restaurant yelling from the entrance if any were open. Because of the poor weather, and the lack of tourists, most of the restaurants were closed. We finally found one "restaurant." I use the word restaurant lightly because it was pretty much like having lunch at someones home. Inside the "restaurant" was a bed, a few tables, and an old TV aka a Studio Apartment. My seat was the families bed that had an old, tattered comforter that had poorly translated English quotes on it. If you think about it, it's pretty much genius, you get the best of both worlds, eating in bed and sitting around the table with family.
We gave Cathy free reign to pick our lunch. She ordered us a few things that were forgettable, but the Chinese pancakes were fantastic. The family worriedly stared at us as we ate, looking for signs of approval, or maybe because they were still trying to figure out how I slipped on that nonexistent banana peel.
I smiled, nodded my head, and they looked relieved. Yes, the clumsy American girl likes our food! High Five!
The second village we visited was Lingshui, and again we were the only tourists. Cathy asked us if we wanted to pay $3 USD to have a local of the village tour us around. Our local guide was Mr Tan who grew up in the village and didn't speak any English, so Cathy translated for us. The village has been featured in several Chinese movies, and has unfortunately fallen apart since Mr Tan was a child.
He took us around his entire village, his old school, the new school, and we climbed up a hill to visit an old 2000 year old tree that supposedly gives people luck. On our way down I asked Mr Tan if he lived nearby. He asked me if I wanted to visit his home. I said I did. For the record, I don't normally invite myself into strangers homes, but Mr Tan was a pretty cool dude. He was like a Chinese Mr Miyagi. He took us to his home, offering us potatoes he had cooked that morning, and introducing us to his father. The experience was $3 well spent.
The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square are places you need to see while in Beijing, but you don't gain an insight of the locals like you do with a visit to the ancient villages. It truly was a peek into their lives, and into their homes as well. :)
8 comments:
That place looks lovely in the snow and rather mystical!
The villages seem really interesting and it's always great to get off the beaten track.
That's what i loved about my trip to China, that we would wander away from some of the touristy stuff and meet local people and stay at local and remote places. It can give you a different perspective on things.xx
It definitely can give you a different perspective. As much as it was hard to take the long overnight trains, I also got to share cabins with local people. We couldn't speak the same language, but it was fun trying to communicate with each other.
Wow, never heard of these villages. I'll definitely have to check them out when I get to Beijing someday. I love the story of the "restaurant". Those are the travel experiences I love to have and love to hear about. :)
So that's what Chinese food really looks like!
What an amazing story, and an opportunity well taken advantage of. It must get very cold in those houses. There sure doesn't seem to be too much insulation!
I agree, experiences like the "Restaurant" are my fave! Thanks for visiting.
Hahaha...yes not many Panda Express looking food in China.
It actually was warm, at least on our side of the room cause their was this oven looking thing next to us...also the homes have fireplace like beds. See the second photo, and the photo on the right hand corner. Those are typical beds there.
Sounds brilliant! Love going to the must see places, but to experience the life of the people who lives there - those are memories that last a lifetime! Love the photos. Glad you liked the food - the high five story is cute!
Can't say I loved all the food in China, but the fried onion pancakes were pretty spectacular.
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